Converting 2wd to 4wd

[rider]

Thanks, John Bud. I have not thought about the swing and sway on the rear of the finishing mower. You are right, I don't plan to use it a lot but as you say I probably will find more things to use it for.

I went by John Deere Dealer today and looked again, and again, and again!
The truth of the matter is I don't want to give up a fine tractor which has served me almost flawless since 1997. I am not an impulse buyer and sometimes take too long to analyze and rationalize what I want to buy.

Talking to guys on these forums have really helped. Thanks.

 

[john_bud]

Yeah, you have a good working tractor now. Why get a payment?

koyker makes a FEL for your machine

Koyker Manufacturing Loader with 2in Cylinders

and

Koyker Manufacturing

I would imagine that Woods and Brushhog would also make similar units.

Don't fret about not having 4wd. It will still work, but you'll have to be more skillful to get full benefit. By the way, I would get one with the 2" cylinders.

jb

 

[rider]

John Bud, Koyker is the fel that I have been looking at and the 2inch cyl. is my choice. I will probably opt for the 5ft bucket instead of the 4ft. The dealer is about 30 miles from here and has given me a reasonable price installed at about $3550 with taxes. Later if I need to change the turf tires I might be able to find some R4 for about $500-$600 locally.

 

[RoyJackson]

john_bud: "I don't like the way a tractor works with a loooong attachment on the back for loader work."

Neither do I...and a rotary cutter is worse then a finishing mower.

rider, there's plenty of posts concerning Ballast Boxes...quite a few are home made for less then $100. I use one behind my 790...big improvement in traction and takes a lot of the load off the front axle.
So, you might want to look for one (new from Deere, the cost is about $200...got mine used for $90) or fabricate one.

 

[Soundguy]

You can make a cheap one for about 15$ if ya got a decent scrap pile laying around..

soundguy

 

[john_bud]

John Bud, Koyker is the fel that I have been looking at and the 2inch cyl. is my choice. I will probably opt for the 5ft bucket instead of the 4ft. The dealer is about 30 miles from here and has given me a reasonable price installed at about $3550 with taxes. Later if I need to change the turf tires I might be able to find some R4 for about $500-$600 locally.

Sounds good. Koyker is a good FEL. Made in America and priced reasonably.

Definately get the 5' bucket. You won't have any problem with that at all.

For a weight, if you can get one of those bars that go between the 3pt arms with all the holes in it. Often called a drawbar. Then build a wooden box around it with the 3pt pins sticking into the wood. The drawbar should be about 18" from the bottom and 12-16" above. Make the wood flush against the bar. Get some 3/8 x 2" strap to make the top link connection point. Bend the ends and bolt the them to the drawbar. Drill a hole about 1/2 way up and put a spacer in there and a 12" piece of rebar. That will keep the top link attachmet from coming out. Then fill the box up with cement. A 24x24x30" block of cement will be enough weight and won't breake the bank.

jb

 

[AndyMA]

I'd probably think about R4's or R1's sooner rather than later. They have so much better traction than turfs.

Andy

 

[RoyJackson]

I'd probably think about R4's or R1's sooner rather than later. They have so much better traction than turfs.

Andy

You're probably right, Andy...but maybe rider should see how his turfs do first. He's already looking at spending $3K plus to get the loader...and, for his tasks, those turfs might do fine!

 

[rankrank1]

Rider - As long as you are happy with the size of your current tractor I would not hesitate installing a Koyker or other aftermarket brand loader on the tractor you currently own. Since you say that you will not be working it heavy I think you will do fine with 2wd especially since you even have the luxury of PS. However, lets play devil's advocate and assume that you end up being unhappy with 2wd factor. If you were to trade for a different 4wd tractor of similar size class you could probably easily install your otherwise new loader by simply purchasing the different mounting kit which should not be a great deal of money.

FWIW - I have a Kubota L285 2wd with a factory FEL with 4' bucket and it does not have PS. My tractor may be slightly larger than yours, but not much (L285 = 26.5 PTO HP and weighs around 2450 lbs). I have been able to do everything that I have ever wanted to do with my 2WD non power steering tractor.

 

[NHGUY]

I think if you load your tires and add some extra weight to the three point hitch you will be fine. We farmed for years just using two wheel drive loader tractor and we had 200 head of dairy cattle so there was always lots of loader work to be done and those tractors handled it fine. I think you will be surprised at what you can do with a loader on a two wheel drive tractor.